Walnut and Herb Vegan Cheese

Do you love cheese? Well, look what we have here – this wonderful walnut and herb cheese! Yes, walnut and herb VEGAN cheese! Yes, it’s plant-based, delicious and so satisfying! Also super easy to make and it only requires a few simple ingredients. This recipe is all you need to set up the perfect cheese platter.

Doesn’t this just look fantastic? And just like real cheese? It definitely tastes like one! The cheese itself has a very cheesy consistency (thanks to the tapioca and the agar agar) and a very neutral taste, which works perfectly with the walnut pieces and the herb coat. But you can make it cheesier too, just add more nutritional yeast. So simple.

The idea of this cheese comes from my beloved Artisan Vegan Cheese book. I’ve talked about this book before and I surely will again, because it’s just the best thing that could happen to a cheese lover, like I am. Miyoko Schinner is often using agar agar and tapioca flour in her recipes achieving the perfect cheese consistency. Her recipes are all amazing, the only problem she uses rejuvelac in her recipes. Which takes a few days to make. But when I’m craving cheese I can’t wait days to make it. I need a recipe just like this one. Lifesaver with its deliciousness! I have to admit I usually eat it just as a snack, but you can also grate and melt the cheese, it works just like the real deal. So good!!!!

Holy cow! This cheese really is deceiving! I mean it looks like Real Cheese (yup, I read the caption, but I still didn’t anticipate such a list of ingredients). OK I won’t lie saying I would definitely make this on my own, but I’m ready to try it if you send me some samples, haha,:) Good job, indeed!

Thank you so much for this recipe, Evi!
I used to love cheese, but since I am vegan I had to give up cheese.
The vegan options in stores are too pricey for me.
But we made this recipe last night and tried this morning and I just couldn’t be happier!
Very delicious!
My husband said it didn’t taste that cheesy for him, but I think it was the best ever! Thank you so much!

Hi Kati,
so happy to hear you liked it!
I guess the cheese can’t fool anybody, but for me it also tastes cheezy enough!
This is definitely a large portion, but I find it easier to make a big batch, then keep in the fridge for the next days/weeks. I am not sure about freezing, but you can store it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.

Hi Dave,
sorry, you are right, just correcting the recipe.
I added the walnuts at the very end, when the cheese is already firmed up. Just roughly stirred in the walnut pieces and then poured the mixture into the molds.
But you can also add the walnuts when the cheese is already in the molds, so you get a walnutty bottom. But this case you have to work quick, because the cheese sets very fast.
Let me know if you liked the cheese 🙂

Hi Evi,
Further to my previous post I made a double batch as I had 10 people coming over for a wine tasting evening. Mistakenly, I used tablespoons instead of teaspoons for the Agar Agar, but realised this straight way and tried to remove as much as possible, and retrieved about a tablespoons worth that hadn’t mixed with the other ingredients.

I had misgivings that the outcome would be hard and rubbery as I’d used too much but in fact it was quite soft and smooth. It was a big hit with the winos, who were all mainstream eaters and not on any “special” diets, and they all complemented it and want to get the recipe.

I’ve tried many of the recipes in Myoko’s book and struggle with the ones using rejuvelic as it is so time consuming. This is a great alternative

I am so happy to hear this, I hope you had a great evening! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
BTW I heard you can buy rejuvelac in stores too, that way the process could be so much more faster. Unfortunately I have no idea where to buy, I haven’t seen any yet.

I tried making this the other evening and followed it exactly but it didn’t set firm, even the day after it is more like a cream cheese consistency. When I cooked it until it was ‘firmed up completely’ I could see that it was starting to come away from the pan when stirred. Maybe this wasn’t set enough?

Hi Chookie,
I am so sorry it didn’t firm up for you.
I have made this recipe a few times, and I never had this problem.
When the cheese ‘firmed up completely’, it was hard to stir and it was already in one large piece basically. After pouring into the molds the cheese was hard in a few seconds. Maybe you could try to cook it a little bit longer, until the mixture is extra hard.
The other thing I can think of is the agar agar. Sometimes I get different results with cheap agar agar from Asian shops and with the more expensive types from organic shops. The cheap one often takes longer to firm up, but then when overcooked has a weird aftertaste, so it’s very tricky to use. Also there can be a big difference between agar agar powder and flakes (you need about the double amount of the flakes).
I really hope next time you will have more success! 🙂

Hi Evi,
I am a big cheese lover and it’s hard for me to give up them..so i try out a lot of vegan cheese recipes and i love them all ???? Today i made your cheese recipe during our son slept…but i slept too ???? I put the herbs in the high-speed blender, too instead of the rolling part…but it tastes very good!! Just the cheese is in the fridge and i’m so happy to try the ready herb cheese! So i will roll the ready cheese in the roasted walnuts ????
Great blog, super recipes and tasty choose of recipes!! ????????????

Hi! Please help me hahaha I’m looking for a good and cheap vegan cheese recipe to make and I can’t find. Actually my problems is being the agar agar, her ein Philippines is really really expensive, I can’t haha. Do you think if I only put tapioca flour would be ok? Even nutritional yeast I never saw here …. that’s the problem to become a truly and real vegan sometimes hahaha. Thank you so much!!!!

Hi Lorena,
Unfortunately this cheese won’t work without agar agar. You can use tapioca, but then you don’t get a firm, sliceable cheese. Sadly I also don’t know about anything else that could work instead of agar agar.
However I have a few cheese recipes on the blog, that don’t use agar agar, maybe you find some that you like. I really like cashew based cheeses, this and this would also work without nutritional yeast (though they won’t be that cheesy). There is also my baked almond feta and my tofu feta recipe, plus a few cheese sauces (1, 2, 3). Still in the testing phase, but in the next weeks I’ll have a new, sliceable cashew mozzarella recipe that doesn’t use agar agar 🙂
Oh, and I have a Pinterest board that’s full with vegan cheese recipes, you might find some interesting agar agar free recipes there too.
I hope I could help a bit, have a great day!

Mine turned out more like a melted blob of brie. The consistency was not hard. It tastes wonderful but is nothing like your photo. I used soy milk and kept exactly to the recipe and waited three hours in the frig. I split the batch in two so I’m leaving the second in there overnight to see what happens with the consistency. Next time I will try almond milk and cut the salt in half. I used the full two tsp.

Hi Allie,
I’m so sorry to hear that the cheese didn’t firm up.
Unfortunately working with agar agar can be very tricky sometimes and I’ve noticed that different brands occasionally result different consistency. It can be a matter of seconds to find the perfect cooking time for agar agar (suuuuuper annoying!!!).
Did the second batch turned out better?
BTW I also prefer using only 1 teaspoon of salt, but I know that some prefer a saltier finish 😉